Waiting

What’s the longest you’ve had to wait for something? Was it even worth waiting for? This simple idea, rooted in human behaviour is so impactful because it makes you think about what really matters.

Since c. 2008, I’ve had an idea that you could use tech to facilitate organ donation. Not in a sinister black market kidney sale kind of way, but more a connected, open, live saving sort of vibe. Ask Anna Maybank, she’ll confirm how much I talk and have talked about this. She thinks it’s illegal (I think she’s right).

Uber is still illegal in a lot of cities and that hasn’t stopped it from becoming one of the world’s biggest tech startup. Maybe there is a way. And through some mega high profile campaigns, it’s easy to see how tech can enable extraordinary things to happen.

Like the #match4Lara campaign that took the took the internet by storm earlier this year. Lara is a 24 year old Chinese-Thai-Italian woman who needed a donor and with no matches appearing on the register, the internet saved the day, and her life. The simple open call to anyone of mixed-race origin to sign up to the bone marrow registry, amounted in more than 20,000 new donors signed up to the registry in less than a month. Incredible.

So there’s both an idea and a challenge – how can we use tech to solve problems like organ donation?